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The European Union is setting up a strategy to efficiently detect malicious drones entering the bloc, with the Commission presenting an action plan on Tuesday in response to multiple incidents affecting critical infrastructure.
The aim of the strategy is to increase investments in technologies that can improve the integration of surveillance systems as well as better detection technologies to distinguish malicious drones from others.
In recent months, countries like Poland and Belgium have experienced several incidents of suspicious drones entering their national airspace or disrupting critical infrastructure and services, such as nuclear sites and airports.
In the action plan, the European Commission proposes supporting EU countries with “coordinated civil-military industrial mapping to attract investment and foster innovation and interoperability” and a “strengthened counter-drone testing capacity”.
The Commission also announced a “new EU Counter-Drone Centre of Excellence and the development of a certification scheme for counter drone systems” as well as “the launch of a Drone and Counter-Drone Industry Forum to foster dialogue with industrial actors, with view to scaling up production”.
There are also plans to make clearer guidelines for operators and launch a pilot project “to improve maritime surveillance” for protection against high-altitude threats.
Another key priority is to have a “single air display system” to integrate all data as a way to distinguish malicious drones from legitimate ones.
The Commission is also calling for “interested countries” to “join forces in the public procurement and deployment of counter-drone systems”.
Strengthening the east
On 16 October, the European Commission published its Defence Readiness Roadmap 2030, which says a “drone wall” will be fully functional by the end of 2027, integrated into a so-called Eastern Flank Watch.
The roadmap also mentions the creation of an Air Defence Shield and a Defence Space Shield.
The EU drone wall is expected to be an integrated system of defence from the Baltic states to the Black Sea. It would be composed of sensors and systems to detect, identify, track, and neutralise suspicious drones entering European airspace or threatening critical infrastructure.
Yet some drone manufacturers and EU governments have warned that the frequency of incidents is already rising sharply. In early November, Poland said that it wants a drone wall fully operational within three months.
In September 2025, NATO launched Operation Eastern Sentry, a mission with the aim of reinforcing the European Eastern flank with an increase of land, sea and air patrolling, and NATO officials announced in November that a new US anti-drone system had been deployed on Europe’s eastern flank.
NATO allies are closely working with the EU to avoid an overlap of initiatives and achieve greater coordination.
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